MaiTai's Picture Book: SPRING DAYS IN LONDON

London in the spring is a feast for the eyes: magnolias are in full blossom, and there are seas of daffodils and narcissi in parks, shop displays, and on the windowsills of immaculate stuccoed townhouses.

It was a fun-packed week, including exploring the latest fabric collections at London Design Week, a lovely walk in Hyde Park with a friend and her dogs, a little shopping, spending time with my son, having dinner with his girlfriend, and attending the launch of Kit Kemp’s latest book.

Who can spot the plane?

While having a quick browse at Harrods, I fell in love with this lovely little dress by La Double J, and was glad I had taken my Double Annau necklace with me, as it works so well with the dress.

As always, I stayed at Number Sixteen in South Kensington, which has been my absolute favourite place in London for more than a decade. Each room is a lovely surprise, and the attention to detail never fails to impress. The rooms are frequently redecorated, and while I’m sure I’ve stayed in this one before, it was a lovely surprise to see it in shades of blue and red this time.

Details of the headboard and wallpaper (left), and armchair with curtain detail (right)

A hearty breakfast to see me through a busy day!

The London Design Centre at Chelsea Harbour, I could spend hours in the showrooms.

I explored the latest collections with my friend Melissa White (wearing her scarf expertly in the Chemisier knot), and it was so much fun to spot her work in so many of the showrooms we visited. Here at Andrew Martin, with her Lantern Parade wallpaper for Kit Kemp.

During Design Week, there are talks, tours, and demonstrations you can join. Here, a lampshade painting demonstration by Bloomsbury Revisited.

Embroidery inspiration at GP & J Baker.

New Kit Kemp wallpaper collection for GP & J Baker (the green one on the right reminds me of the Hermès Carré Kantha scarf from the SS2008 collection).

Melissa and her Songbird wallpaper in Mist.

Terraced stuccoed houses and magnolia trees—the essence of London in springtime.

Tea time

In the evening, we met up at the Soho Hotel for the launch of Kit Kemp’s latest Design Stories book. The walls of the drawing room were covered in Rufus, a fantastical landscape Melissa had painted for Kit Kemp. Although the design exists as a wallpaper, a fabric version was used to cover the walls.

Here’s a detail of Rufus, next to the curtain in an Orange Puff fabric with a leading edge in a Pop Art border trim by Kit Kemp for Christopher Farr. It all works so beautifully together.

The beautiful drawing room is decorated entirely in Kit Kemp’s new Harvest Moon collection for Andrew Martin. The armchair on the left is upholstered in Meadow Hill, a scaled-down and spliced-together version of the Rufus design covering the wall.

The new Design Stories book

Another magnificent Magnolia tree!

I also went to Liberty of London to source new fabrics for the MaiTai Collection bag inserts. So many beautiful displays across the entire floor, and so many gorgeous designs to choose from.

One of the details I love most about La Double J is the placement of patterns. They call it Placée, and it makes all the difference. I wore the dress with black skinny jeans and ankle boots.

Back home and while putting this post together, I realised how well the dress’s colours match one of my latest embroidered flower pictures.

I always start with a little painting, and then add embroidery for a three-dimensional effect.

Another brilliant find while in London: the Hydrobalm tinted lipstick by Westman Atelier. It feels like a lip balm and looks like a lipstick. Highly recommended (I chose the colour Juice, a sheer coral flush, perfect for summer).

This year, my little lemon trees produced over 50 fruits combined, more than double last year’s harvest! The picture below is from February; since then, the lemons have almost doubled in size.